"His decision is not final," she says. "He's just a teenager, and people are forgetting that. We had never discussed Clemson, and I am unhappy with Clemson. I'm not there, so I don't know for certain, but I feel like Robert was pressured into this decision." She'll return later this fall to escort Robert onto the field for senior night.

But no matter how unguided Nkemdiche's decision may or may not have been, he is frank about his ultimate goal: the NFL. "Anywhere I go," he says, "if I just play football, in a few years I'm going to have $50 million."

The league is certainly a selling point for Clemson, which is one of only three programs (with UNC and LSU) to have seven defensive linemen selected since 2008. "Don't buy the lie that you can't accomplish all your goals and dreams if you don't play in the SEC," Swinney says.

Of course, Nkemdiche will hear plenty of lines like that between now and Feb. 6.

"I'm going to Clemson," he says. "I want to make an impact and in three years go to the NFL. That's what I'm going to do. You can put that in bold too."